NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - World stock indexes declined on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 down and Treasury yields easing after data suggesting a cooling in the U.S. labor market.
The U.S. Labor Department report showed U.S. job openings in February dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years.
In addition, a separate report showed new orders for U.S.-manufactured goods fell for a second straight month in February amid ebbing demand for civilian aircraft.
The S&P 500 was pressured the most by the economically sensitive industrial sector (.SPLRCI), which was last down 2%. Materials (.SPLRCM) were also lower.
The yield on two-year Treasuries, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 12.2 basis points to 3.858%, while the benchmark 10-year note's yield slid 4.5 basis points to 3.387%.
Crude oil prices also eased after Monday's sharp rally tied to Sunday's announcement of an output target cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners.
U.S. crude recently fell 0.27% to $80.20 per barrel and Brent was at $84.56, down 0.44% on the day.
The spike in oil prices has added to concerns about higher costs for businesses and consumers, but some investors think U.S. data signaling some cooling in the economy could possibly allow the Federal Reserve to loosen monetary policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 173.34 points, or 0.52%, to 33,427.81; the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 16.95 points, or 0.41%, to 4,107.56; and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 42.95 points, or 0.35%, to 12,146.50.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.02% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) shed 0.11%.
Shares of Glencore (GLEN.L), whose bid for Teck Resources (TECKb.TO) was rebuffed by the Canadian copper miner the day before, rose.
The Fed and other central banks have been raising interest rates to bring down inflation, and investors have been trying to gauge how much longer the tightening cycle will continue.
"Cooling down of the labor market is one of the things necessary to combat inflation," said Andrzej Skiba, head of the BlueBay U.S. fixed income team at RBC Global Asset Management in New York.
The U.S. dollar index was last down 0.5%, while the euro was up 0.6% at $1.0963.
The Australian dollar came under pressure after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged after 10 straight increases. It was last down 0.7% against the U.S. dollar at $0.6737.
Spot gold added 1.9% to $2,021.19 an ounce.
